Sleeping-car berth.



E. R. MOORE.

SLEEPING CAR BERTH.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23. I915.

Patented Nov. 21, 1916.

FCE.

EDWIN R. MOORE, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

SLEEFING-CAR BERTH.

Application filed September 23, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN R. Moons, citizen of the United States, resident of St. Paul, county of Ramsey, State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sleeping-Car Berths, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in combined seats and berths for railway sleeping cars and particularly to that class in which the seats are arranged on both sides of a central aisle running through the car and are made up into sleeping berths for passengers at night.

The object of my invention is to provide more space or standing room for the occupant of the lower berth to dress and undress without being obliged to use the caraisle.

A further object is to provide a seat of such construction that the cars in general use can be equipped with the improvement at a comparatively small expense.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following detailed description.

The invention consists generally in various constructions and combinations, all as hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1. is an interior view of a portion of a sleeping car, showing the seat and back cushions arranged to receive the mattress and bed clothing in making up the berth, Fig. 2 is a plan sectional view, showing the hinged sections of the cushions forming a portion of the support for the mattress tilted to an inclined position to allow the occupant of the berth to stand on the car floor between the seats or assume a sitting posture without the necessity of putting the feet out in the aisle of the car, Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view through the outer wall of the berth, 011 a line between the back and seat cushions, showing an end view of the latter, Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view, showing the means for supporting the outer portions of the sectional seat cushions, Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view of the preferred means for hinging the sections of the seat cushions together.

In the drawing, 2 represents the wall of a sleeping car and 3 the seat frames. These are arranged back to back, as usual in sleep- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 21, 1916.

Serial No. 52,273.

ing cars, with a space between the opposing seats.

4; represents the back cushions, of ordinary construction, arnnged in a substan tially vertical position during the day but adapted to slide down to a horizontal position to form the end supports for the berth mattress. Rails preferably of angle bar, are arranged transversely of the seats and are supported upon bars 6, running lengthwise of the seats beneath the plates 7, which extend from end to end of the seats and support the seat cushions. These cushions are divided transversely into sections 8 and 9. and have frames 10 hinged together at 11 to allow the inner section of each cushion to be raised and tilted'outwardly over the other section. I prefer also to provide springs 11 connecting these sections which, when the inner sections are tilted, will swing past the center of their pivots, as indicated in Fig. 3, and hold the tilted sections in their raised position. These springs serve to hold the cushions securely in their raised position so that they cannot possibly fall down and injure a passenger. lVhen the hinged sections are swung back to a horizontal position, the springs will move to a point on the other side of the center of the pivots and their tension will then hold the cushion sections in their normal horizontal position. The sections 8 have frames 12 provided with key-hole slots 13 in the bottom thereof to receive heads 14: formed on the rails 5, said heads serving as guides when these cushion sections are moved toward one another and supporting them in a horizontal position when the cushion sections are drawn toward one another to close the gap between the seats and form the support for the bed mattress. The cushion sections 9 have preferably a bolt 15 slidable in a recess 16 in the frame of the section and positioned to engage the frame of the other hinged section, so that when the seat cushions are used as a support for the mattress, the abutting edges of the frames of these sections will be locked together and sagging of one sectionindependently ofthe abutting one will be prevented. It will be understood, of course, that when the hinged sections are unlocked, One of them only may be raised, if preferred, leaving the other in its normal horizontal position.

It is generally known among travelers that it is extremely diflicult for a person to dress or undress in a lower berth on account of the cramped space provided and because when the berth is made up there is no place to sit or stand except on the edge of the bed, with the legs projecting into the aisle. This is not only a cramped position, but the person dressing in this way blocks the aisle to a considerable degree and interferes with the passage of other occupants of the car through the aisle. lVith my improvement this objection and inconvenience in dressing and undressing in an ordinary car berth is eliminated. As soon as the bed is made up, the porter can tilt the horizontal sections of the seat cushions to the position shown in Fig. 3, raising the bed clothes also, and leaving a standing room between the seats with a place to sit on either side, so that the occupant of the berth can comfortably dress or undress without using the car aisle. After undressing, the person can step into the aisle, concealed, of course, by the curtains of the berth, drop the hinged sections of thecushion to a horizontal position and the bed is then ready for use. In the morning the hinged sections can be raised and the person using the berth can dress comfortably in the space between the seats without danger of being jostled or stepped on by persons passing through the car. Furthermore, by the use of this improvement, considerahis head room is gained between the lower berth and the bottom of the upper berth, equal to the thickness of the cushions, thereby providing considerable more space for a person sitting between the seats.

In various ways the details of construction herein shown and described may be modified and still be within the scope of my invention ,being adapted to be raised and tilted outwardly over the other sections to expose said supports and the floor of the ear between the seats, said supports, when 8X- )osed formin temoorar seats in the berth.-

7 a l In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 17th day of September, 1915.

EDIVIN MOORE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Yatents, Washington, D. G. 

